Chapter 55: Bleeding on the Very First Meeting

The narrow path leading from the dormitory to the cafeteria was littered with withered, grey branches and fallen leaves.

"Crunch, crunch..."

Two young girls carrying shoulder bags walked along the cobblestone trail, their shoe soles producing crisp sounds from time to time.

Wang Danping chattered away about interesting things that had happened over the past few days, but she noticed that Liu Xiaoli kept her head down the entire time, remaining silent.

"Sister Xiaoli, what's wrong with you?"

Turning her head to look, Wang Danping saw that Sister Xiaoli's eyes were out of focus, staring blankly at the ground.

To Wang Danping, Liu Xiaoli was like an older sister, always taking care of her. Their relationship was much closer than ordinary people's.

"It's nothing. Let's go get some food first; the performance is starting soon."

Liu Xiaoli smiled and pulled her toward the cafeteria.

After finishing their meal, the two of them went to the dressing room backstage at the performing arts center to change into their dance costumes. Today's performance was a classical Chinese dance drama.

After changing, Liu Xiaoli possessed a slender figure, dressed in a flowing cyan tunic with long, fluttering sleeves and a hairpin in her hair, resembling a classical court lady stepping out of an ancient painting.

"Dear audience members, good morning to you all. Our first dance drama performance is a classical Chinese dance drama..."

The loudspeaker broadcasted the host's resonant voice.

Soon, the lights in the performing arts center dimmed completely, leaving only a single spotlight shining on the stage.

Accompanied by the soft, soothing strains of a guzheng, the black velvet curtains slowly parted to both sides.

A group of women attired in classical garments revealed their true appearances, with Liu Xiaoli among them.

Although it was not her first time performing on stage and dancing, Liu Xiaoli still felt a surge of excitement.

Every time she stood on stage under the gaze of the audience, she felt her movements and dance postures were even more flawless than during her usual practice sessions, as if she were naturally born for the stage and born for dance.

"Music starts, dance begins!"

Following the sound echoing in her ears, Liu Xiaoli lightened her steps to the melodious guzheng and crisp bamboo flute, gently rising on her tiptoes and slowly unfolding her arms on the stage. The water sleeves fluttered with her movements, soft and fluid like running water.

While fully immersed in the dance, she simultaneously sensed a steady, intense gaze directed at her from the auditorium.

Yes, that feeling was as if the person's eyes held only her.

Who on earth could it be?

Liu Xiaoli glanced over hurriedly, only to see a very tall young man sitting there, his face indistinct, smiling directly at her.

There was no time to think further as the music gradually reached its climax, and Liu Xiaoli threw herself back into the dance.

Her dance steps grew urgent and powerful, her water sleeves tracing graceful arcs in the air like the flying-white strokes of a master calligrapher, possessing both strength and delicate grace.

When the dance came to an end.

She finally had a moment to look toward the direction where the gaze had originated, only to find that the seat where the young man had just been sitting was suddenly empty.

"It must have been my imagination, right?"

Liu Xiaoli knitted her delicate brows, bowed to the audience, and retreated from the stage along with the others.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

Applause rang out endlessly from beneath the stage.

...

Backstage.

Liu Xiaoli finished her performance and sat on a stool to rest, gathering her cyan skirt hem with one hand and placing it on her knee to prevent it from getting soiled by the floor, inadvertently exposing a slender, scallion-white section of her lower leg.

After a moment, a staff member walked over and said, "Xiaoli! There's a guy outside looking for you."

"A guy? Did he say who he was?"

Liu Xiaoli asked, frowning.

"He didn't say. He just told me to relay two words to you, something about a surprise."

The staff member scratched his head, looking puzzled.

"A surprise?!"

Hearing this, Liu Xiaoli stood up instantly, unable to hold back an exclamation.

At the same time, a thought grew wildly in her heart like overgrown grass: Could it be Comrade Xiao Cheng who came?

But isn't he in Beijing right now?

How could he possibly be in Jiangcheng?

"I'll go take a look!"

Taking a deep breath, Liu Xiaoli stood up with excitement and immediately trotted toward the outside.

Her sudden movement left the other girls in the lounge feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Where did Sister Xiaoli go?"

"I don't know. It looks like someone is looking for her."

"I'll go check it out."

The girls had grown up in the song and dance theatre, and they had often heard the theatre's teachers and seniors warn them never to go out to meet strangers alone, and that young girls must protect themselves well.

...

"Huff, huff... Where is he? Where is he?"

Liu Xiaoli held up her long skirt as she ran down the corridor, looking around to search for that person's figure. The long dress fluttered in the wind with the girl's brisk steps, and her delicate fingers lifting the hem as she moved were exceptionally beautiful.

"Huff, huff..."

The girl's chest rose and fell unevenly as she caught her breath, fine beads of fragrant sweat trickling down the corners of her eyes and flushed cheeks to drip from her chin.

Just then, as she rounded a corner, her center of gravity shifted, and unexpectedly she stepped on her own fluttering hem. In an instant, everything went dark before her eyes, and she stumbled forward.

"Thud!"

"Ouch... It hurts so much."

Liu Xiaoli collapsed to the floor, instinctively clutching her bruised knees and elbows as waves of sharp pain struck her. Looking down, she saw bright red blood gradually welling up, staining her palm.

However, Liu Xiaoli had no time to worry about this right now. Supporting herself somewhat clumsily against the floor with loose strands of hair falling beside her ears, she bit her lip and muttered to herself, "It must not be him; all that talk about a surprise was just a lie..."

"Why are you running so fast? And when did I ever lie to you?"

At that moment, the sound of tapping footsteps echoed from the wooden floor of the theatre corridor, and a young man's voice traveled from afar, drawing closer.

Liu Xiaoli raised her head and saw a very familiar face appear before her eyes, which then rapidly enlarged.

Her eyes filled with surprise. With her delicate, rosy lips slightly parted, she called out in disbelief, "Ah! It really is you!"

Is this what they mean by the path twisting around and suddenly meeting... a surprise?

"Ah! What are you doing, let me go..."

The girl let out a startled cry. Before she could react, she felt a pair of warm, strong arms wrap around her, lifting her bodily into the air.

The sudden weightlessness frightened Liu Xiaoli a little, and she reflexively wrapped her arms around Cheng Kaiyan's neck, curling her entire body into his embrace. Her forehead pressed against Cheng Kaiyan's chest, and a long-lost sense of security filled the young girl's heart.

With one arm supporting her slender, warm waist and the other tucked beneath the bends of her knees, Cheng Kaiyan looked around and spotted a small gazebo just outside the corridor.

Carrying her in a bridal style, he walked out to the small gazebo and sat down with her.

"Running so fast while looking all around without even watching where you're going."

Crouching in front of Liu Xiaoli, Cheng Kaiyan's gaze landed on her blood-stained knees and elbows as he spoke with a frown.

"It's all because of you..."

Lowering her head to look at the familiar face before her, Liu Xiaoli muttered softly in defiant protest.

"Fine, fine. Lift up your skirt and let me see."

"Huh?" Her eyes widened.

"Let's look at the wound; it's bleeding."

"Oh, oh."

Feigning composure, Liu Xiaoli smoothed down a stray lock of hair before lifting the hem of her skirt to expose her knees to Cheng Kaiyan.

Since the wounds on her knees and elbows were small—about the size of broad beans—Cheng Kaiyan used the handkerchief he carried with him to gently wipe away the bloodstains for Liu Xiaoli.

"Alright, it's cleaned up."

Cheng Kaiyan handed over another clean handkerchief. "Wipe your sweat."

"Got it."

Having already recovered her usual calm, Liu Xiaoli took it to wipe away her perspiration, then tightly clutched the two soiled handkerchiefs in her palm.

Inside the small gazebo, the two of them sat side by side, the atmosphere falling somewhat silent for a moment.

Breaking the silence, Liu Xiaoli nudged the man beside her and asked, "So this is the surprise you were talking about?"

Cheng Kaiyan retrieved a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her. "How do you like it?"

Liu Xiaoli's eyes lit up. She took the flowers, lowered her head to sniff them, and then, reflecting on the emotional rollercoaster of the past few days, bit her lip and said:

"It's alright. And it was you staring at me from down below earlier, wasn't it?"